Chapter 26:
England refuses to continue the American war.
1782.
the campaign in Virginia being finished, Wash-
Chap. XXVI.} 1782. Jan. 7. ington and the eastern army were cantoned for the winter in their old positions around New York; Wayne, with the Pennsylvania line, marched to the south to re-enforce Greene; the French under Rochambeau encamped in Virginia; and de Grasse took his fleet to the West Indies.
From Philadelphia, Robert R. Livingston, the first American secretary for foreign affairs, communicated to Franklin the final instructions for negotiating peace; and the firm tone of Franklin's reply awakened new hopes in congress.
While the conditions of peace were under consideration, America obtained an avowed friend in the Dutch republic.
John Adams had waited more than eight months for an audience of reception, unaided even indirectly by the French ambassador at the Hague, because interference would have pledged France too deeply to the support of the Unite
